With more than 100 matches, Big Brothers Big Sisters hopes to increase their numbers this year.
Executive Director Kayla Minchew said they are in elementary schools, but want to get into middle schools where volunteers can hang out with their “Littles” during the school day at lunch, PE or recess, but not during instructional time.
The age range for Littles in the program is 6 and runs to 21.
“The research is finding that kids need that support all the way through college and through the transition from high school into adulthood as well and so we can serve children on up to 21. That’s fairly recent in the last few years,” Minchew said.
They are excited about making more than 100 matches. She added that they have not had that many matches since 2020.
“I know this team has worked really hard recruiting and making those matches and supporting those matches and making sure we have good, positive relationships that are going to last. We’re really proud of our team. We’re proud of our board and everyone that’s put in the effort to have a successful year,” Minchew said.
Adrian Vega is a “Big” to the organization’s Littles and Karmen Bryant is on the board.
Vega has been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters for 5 1/2 years.
“As my two children got older, my son Avery is 22 and my daughter Della is 20, I was looking for a place to volunteer that would allow me to work with children or youth. At the time, the Big Brothers Big Sister’s program in Odessa was school-based, through ECISD. From my work with the Education Partnership of the Permian Basin, I found out about this opportunity,” said Vega, who is now Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Midland College.
Vega and his “Little” Jonathan have been matched since he was in fifth grade at Blackshear Elementary. He is now a sophomore at New Tech Odessa High School.
“I have enjoyed hanging out with Jonathan and watching him grow into a young man. It has been fun doing things together and going to various places throughout Odessa and Midland. One of the things we like to do the most is eating at places that Jonathan may have never been to before. Therefore, a lot of our time is spent experiencing new things and talking about life and growing up. In addition, we have gone to musical concerts at the Wagner Noël, visited art exhibits, gone bowling, and hiking,” Vega said.
Vega said he would encourage other Bigs to get involved.
“Being a Big with Big Brothers Big Sisters is a great way to give back to our community and pour into the life of a young man or woman who may not have an older brother, sister, uncle, aunt, father, or mother. In addition, it is a lot of fun, and I’m glad that the cities of Odessa and Midland have a chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters available for Bigs (mentors) and Littles (children) to be a part of,” he added.
Bryant, who was a “Big” back in high school, said she likes to see younger people volunteering for the organization.
Sydney Gore, director of marketing at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center, said she has been involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters for a little over a year. She had thought about doing it in college, but it didn’t work out. When she returned to Odessa and got established, she decided to give it a try.
She’s also involved in Boys and Girls Club as a board member.
“I’ve seen through Boys and Girls Club what that connection can bring, especially being a younger board member …” so she wanted to see how it would work with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Gore said.
She added that there are so many more young volunteers that she’s seen at the different events the organization has put on.
Gore said the program has grown in Odessa and her direct contact is going to be stationed in Odessa permanently.
-Bryant said the board made a strategic decision to focus on Odessa.
“It’s been great,” she said.
Bryant said they have 74 Littles that need to be matched, but 24 is the number to meet to get where they were in 2024. There were 104 matches in 2024.
Gore said her Little is 14. She said her Little’s brother is still waiting for a match.
“There hasn’t been a perfect match for him quite yet, but she’s able to talk to him about what we talk about. We go on different outings, Big Brothers Big Sisters is a lot of events just for Bigs and Littles. We’ve been able to go to the jump place in Midland. That was really fun for back to school. Then they got to shop at the Big Brothers Big Sisters office in Midland for Christmas, which she loved. She got to get gifts for all of her family members. They definitely give them a lot of opportunities to do different things. Her favorite place is Texas Roadhouse so that’s where we always go to eat. That’s her go-to,” Gore said.
She added that her Little has gone through a lot of challenges in the little more than a year since they were matched.
“This really helped her be able to have that outside person to talk to, who’s not in the family, that she can just kind of be a sounding board with me and talk about whatever she needs to talk about. That’s really helped her go through all the different things that she’s been through,” Gore said.
She added that she has noticed her Little maturing.
“She’s in high school now, so definitely that maturity is starting to come through. … We meet with our Big Brothers Big Sisters contact once a month, just to kind of check in. I meet with her just the two of us, and then the Little meets with her as well to see what’s going on. Do we need any help or anything? Because there’s definitely that support there, as well,” Gore said.
She added that they talk about the future of her Little a lot. When they were first matched, her Little didn’t think about college.
“That wasn’t something that she wanted to pursue. But now she’s more open to it,” Gore said.
A lot of times, Bryant said people think of Big Brothers Big Sisters as just two people, but really the volunteers are impacting the whole family.
“Really, when you think about the reach it’s much further than just the one person. It’s amazing,” Bryant said.
Gore said she took her Little to the West Texas Food Bank for an event where they got to cook and some of them may not have done that before. She added that they talked about nutrition and how to plan your plate.
“I love that too, because whereas the fun activities are so important, but really trying to teach self sufficiency and life skills,” Bryant said.
Gore said she thinks a lot of kids are just scared of the stove and have probably been raised in homes where they don’t touch it.
“So then being able to do it safely, learn how to use a pan and what all goes into it. They got to chop things up and use a knife … There’s a plastic knife, but they have to use that, (for) the fine motor skills,” she added.
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